Mr. Huntsman's proposal is as impressive as any to date in the GOP Presidential field, and certainly better than what we've seen from the front-runners. Perhaps Mr. Huntsman should be asked to give the Republican response to the President's jobs speech next week. The two views of what makes an economy grow could not be more different.

There's a dog-bites-man quality to the editorial — it's no surprise that a candidate who proposes a flattening of the tax code, sharp corporate tax cuts and a scaling-back of regulation would win applause from the Journal's editorial page. Tim Pawlenty found something similar this summer, for all that it was worth.

The Journal's effusiveness could help Huntsman among some elites, however, and maybe get him a second look from the kind of people who write sizable checks in GOP primaries. At minimum, he's finally given conservatives something to like about his campaign.